Playing to sold-out crowds in their native Ireland and getting the kind of press that’ll get you noticed from 5,000 miles away, O Emperor seems very much a band on the verge. There is something quite mesmerizing about Paul Savage’s strained vocals, slightly syncopated rhythms, the stuttering high-hat and that sort of retro/T-Rexy/Rock-God guitar riff that slithers in and out of the otherwise easygoing, jangly arrangement. They just dropped Persephone, a 3-song EP and have apparently finished recording their debut album, Hither/Thither, due out in May.
Damn Ugly Photography 
Thanks, Brad, for keeping me in the loop of such great music. And by the way, have I mentioned how astounded I am by your prose? You’ve become a damn good writer in the last two decades. Maybe you always were, and I was simply sidetracked by your great photography. Muchisimas gracias, kiddo